Knitting-machine.



PATENTED MAY-23., 1905.

,N0..790,s5v.

E. J. FRANGK.

KNITTING MACHINE;

APPLICATION FILED JUNB 13, i901.

2 snmi'rs-snnm 1.

No. 790,357. 'P'ATENTED MAY 23, 1905, I

E. J. FRANGKJ KNITTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 13, 1901.;

UNIT D STATES Patented may 23, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

KNITTING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 790,357, dated May 23, 1905. Application filed June 13, 1901. Serial No. 64,386.

To all whom, it may concern: 1 Be it known that I, EMIL J. FRANcK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Collingdale, in the county of Delaware and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knitting-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention is applicable to a machine of the general type illustrated in my Patent No. 536,616, of April 2, 1895; and its object is to provide simple, durable, reliable, and efficient means for controlling the fashioning-needles to produce widening and narrowing and also tucking, or, in other words,

to tuck down the fashioning=needles when.

making the heels.

Another object of the invention is to provide means which are adapted to accomplish the results named in connection with a machine of line gage.

. Other objects of the invention, as well as its characteristics, will be hereinafter pointed out and claimed.

The nature, characteristic features, and scope of the invention will be more fully understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, and in which Figure 1 is a top or plan view, with the needle-cylinder in section, of so much of themachine as is necessary to illustrate a' structure embodying features of the invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are respectively diagrammatic views showing the needle disengaged or out of action, partially engaged, and entirely engaged.

In the drawings, 1 is a needle-cylinder in respect to which the needles are movable up and down in-its vertical grooves. The spring 2 serves to cause the needles to work with slight friction in their grooves, so that they tend to remain at rest. I

3 is a spring encircling a circumferential groove cut in the cylinder-ribs, and it serves as a stop for the needles, so that they may not by any chance fall down through their grooves.

4L and 5 are needle-carriers, which are reciprocated up and down in respect to the needlecylinder. These carriers each extend approximately half-way around the cylinder 1, as is clearly shown in Fig. 2, and the carriers are 'reciprocated up and down, for example, by

the means illustrated in my former patent, to which I have referred, or in any appropriate manner.

7 and 8 are needle-strippers, which work in tracks 9 in the bed-plate 10 and are held against accidental displacement, for example, by means of bolt-heads 11. The shanks of the bolts travel in openings 12. Each of the parts 7 and 8 is fitted with a rack 8 and 7. The racks are fitted to travel in the tracks 9, and there are interposed between the racks and the strippers spring-pins 13, which are fitted with points that take into corresponding depressions. strippers proper to normally move as one part; but if any of the mechanism whichwill be presently described should jam, the points of the pins will pull out of their depressions, and thus release the strippers from the racks, so that breakage is avoided, and since the mechanism which is about to be described is very light and requires little power to operate it the described spring pins 13 afford satisfactory means for connecting the racks and the strippers. Motion is imparted to the racks by means of rack-bars 1 1, which are operated, for example, from a pattern-drum such as is described in my patent to which I have referred. The rack-bars are moved when needles are to be thrown into or out of action. To throw them out of action,,the rack-bars are shifted toward the left in Fig. 1, and to throw them into action the rack-bars are shifted toward the right in Fig. 1, so that to throw needles out of action the strippers are shifted toward the left in Fig. 1 and to throw them into action they are shifted toward the right. It may be remarked that the fashioning-needles are arranged so as to extend from the center of the cylinder toward the left in Fig. 1, and they extend as far as may be necessary. The fashioning-needles are lifted and lowered when they are in action by-the needle-carrier, 4:. The needle-carrier 4 is provided with radial grooves, one for each jack 15, and there is a jack 15 for each of the fashioning-needles.

These pins cause the racks and The jacks are afforded motion in their grooves toward and away from the center of the cylinder. Overlying the grooves for the jacks there are detachable plates 16. These plates extend so as to have practically a running lit with the webs on the needle-cylinder, between which are the needle-grooves. Under the inner edges of these plates 16 there is quite a little space, which is occupied in part by the heads of the jacks. The heads of the jacks comprise a slot located between two tongues, of which the lower one is longer than the upper one for a purpose to be presently described. The tails of the jacks consist of a T-shaped head having an upper arm and a lower arm, which will be presently described. The bits of the needles are turned outward and are adapted under conditions to be presently described to be engaged by the slots in the heads of their respective jacks. When the jacks are in the position shown in Fig. 2, the slots in their heads engage the bits of the needles, so that the needles are locked thereby to'the needle-carrier, and as the latter rises and falls the fashioning-needles are carried up and down with it. WVhen the jacks are shifted to the extreme limits of their travel outward from the center of the cylinder, their heads are entirely clear of the bits of the fashioning-needles, so that the carrier 4 rises and falls, but does not carry the fashioningneedles with it. Under the circumstances last described the fashioning-needles would be out of action. WVhen the jacks occupy intermediate positions, their lower tongues would be in line with the inner edge of the plates 16, so that the upper tongues of the jacks would clear the needle-bits and the latter would be located between the lower tongues of the jacks and the inner edge of the plates 16. Under these circumstances when the carrier 4 rises and falls' the fashioning-needles would rise and fall with it; but there would be lost motion. between the fashioning-needles and the carrier, since the bits of the needles would have play between the bottom of the plates 16 and the top of the lower tongues of the heads of the jacks. This would result in the production of what is called tucking.

From the foregoing description it is evident that the jaeks may be shifted either to put the fashioning-needles into action or to throw them out of action or to produce tucking-- that is, a limited rise and fall of the fashioning-needles, whereby more than one stitch is taken onto them and the two or more stitches are thrown off together in a succeeding course. To shift the jacks, the strippers are provided with three inclined wings 17, 18, and 19, arranged in such a way that the wing 19 is above the heads of the jacks, while the wings 17 and 18 are below them, and these wings 17, 18, and 19 shift the jacks by their inclined surfaces coming in contact with the T-heads of the jacks. By referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the wing 19 is the first to reach the jacks when needles are to be thrown out of action and the stripper is moving toward the left and that the wing 18 next reaches the jacks, 18 and 19 do nothing, and the wing 17 finally reaches them and throws them out. Since the wing 17 is continuous from its point of beginning to substantially the end of the stripper, it follows that it will not only shift the jacks, but will also, as it were, serve to hold them. Upon the return movement of the strippers the wings operate in reverse order. Assuming for the sake of description that the fashioning-needles are all in action, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and that some of them are to be thrown out of action, it follows that the stripper, with its wings, will move toward the leftin Fig. 1. Under these circumstances the wings 19 and 18, both of which are inclined so as to force the jacks into their inner position, will simply lightly touch the jacks and will not shift them at all, because the jacks are already in their innermost position. However, when the wing 17, which is inclined to throw the jacks from their innermost to their outermost position, comes into line with the T-shaped head of a jack, the lower arm of this T-shaped head will upon the descent of the carrier 4 collide with the inclined portion of the wing 17, and that portion will shift the jack outward from the center of the cylinder and in that way release the needlebit and draw the head of the jack entirely clear of it, so that the carrier 1 will rise and fall without the fashioning-needle, which is therefore out of action. Iln the manner described the various fashioning needles are thrown out of action. After a sufiicient munber of fashioning-needles have been properly thrown out of action and it is desired to return them. into action and to cause them to make what is called tucking the strippers are shifted toward the right. In this way the wing 17 passes out of range of the heads of the jacks. The wing 18 passes into range of them, and as it does so its inclined face engages the lower bar of the T-shaped head of the jacks and operates to push them one after another into intermediate position-that is to say, in such position that the lower tongues of their heads catch the bits, while the upper tongues escape the bits. 1n this way the fashioning-needles are caused to rise and fall with the carrier 4; but since their bits have a lost motion between the tops of the bottom tongues of the jacks and the under side of the plate 16 it follows that they will perform tucking or take on two stitches or more before they are permitted to throw them off, which they do at one time and when they are finally brought into action. The fashioning-needles, which have been lifted by the action of the part 18 upon the jacks and which are brought into action by the wing 19, of which the inclined face strikes the top bar of the T-shaped head of the jacks, successively and by reason of its shape serves to push the jacks inward into their innermost position, in which the groove between their tongues is fitted to the bits of the needles. Of course the wing 19 should come into action during the upstroke of the carrier, so as to insure the needle-bit taking into the groove in the head of the jack.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates that modifications may be made in details without departing from the spirit thereof. Hence 1 do not limit myself to the precise construction and arrangement of parts hereinabove set forth, and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings; but,

Having thus described the nature and objects of the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a knitting-machine the combination of a needle-cylinder and a needle-carrier and means for reciprocating one of them in respect to the other, needles provided with bits, needle-strippers, and means for shifting them around the cylinder, jacks adapted to engage, disengage and partially engage the needle-bits and radially movable in respect to the needlecylinder and carried by the needle-carrier, and wings carried by the needle-strippers and adapted to cooperate with the jacks and to shift them into three positions, substantially as described.

2. In combination aneedle-cylinder, needles provided with bits, a needle-carrier provided on top with a ring overlying the needle-bits, means for shifting the needle-carrier, jacks fitted to move radially in respect to the needlecarrier and each provided with a head having a slot above and below which are tongues of which the lower tongue is longer than the upper tongue, and means for shifting'the jacks, substantially as described.

3. In combination a needle-cylinder, needles having hits, a needle-carrier, a stripper, jacks mounted to move radially of the needle-carrier and provided with T-shaped tails and with slotted heads adapted to engage, disengage and partially engage the needle-bits, and wings carried by the stripper and adapted to cooperate with the T-shaped tails of the jacks to shift them inward and outward in respect to the center of the needle-cylinder and into three positions, substantially as described.

4. The combination of the needle-carrier, the jacks mounted to move radially thereof and provided with T-shaped tails the strippers, and the three wings 17, 18 and 19 arranged to cooperate with said tails and carried by the strippers, substantially as described.

5. In a knitting-machine of the type specified the combination of the grooved needlecylinder, the needles provided with bits, the needle-carriers, the jacks mounted thereon and provided with means for engaging, disengaging and partially engaging the needlebits, means for shifting the needle-carriers, means for shifting the jacks into three positions and the springs 2 and 3, encircling the needle-cylinder and whereof one imparts friction to the needles and the other. prevents them from falling-substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name. 7

EMIL J. FRANGK. WVitnesses:

K. M. GILLIGAN, W. J. J ACKSON. 

